


Eclipse: Epistolary

by missingnowrites



Series: Children of the Dawn [2]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Alternate Universe - Sky Factory, Epistolary, Future Fic, Gen, Kerry vs. Sarah in Battle Academia, aka two historians disagreeing (politely) in their published essays, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:21:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27651971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missingnowrites/pseuds/missingnowrites
Summary: Future fic in the same universe as Eternal Eclipse.S. Weems has a strong opinions regarding a new historical interpretation. K. Shawcross defends his theory. In a lengthy essay, published in Frontier Science magazine.Literary slapfight between historians, basically.
Series: Children of the Dawn [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1903639
Kudos: 3





	Eclipse: Epistolary

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry I've been quiet on here. I meant to post this back in October, but then everything happened.
> 
> At this point, I'm gonna have to say I'm unlikely to return to Eclipse for the promised sequel. However, I had this lovely snippet written already, and I still wanted to share it.
> 
> None of the characters from the original fic or ship are showing up, except as world-building aspects. AKA there's gonna be talk about the Solar Queen, Dark God, and the Blood Mage deities from a historic perspective.

Excerpts from “Evidence of Common Sense: a Rebuttal to Nonsense Trinitivism by Sarah Weems” by Kerry Shawcross, published in Frontier Science, 1005:

> (...) the theory of the Solar Queen, the Dawnbringer, and the God of the Night as three disparate deities has been upheld by several notable scholars of the last centuries, it was largely popularized by Dr. Michael Burns, professor of history at the university of Tritanya. While he has advanced the field of ancient celestial research in many other instances, as in his papers on the historical meaning of blood sacrifice in marital rites and childbirth, e.g., his greatest lapse of common sense has to be the popularization of the trinity as a divine triumvirate. Prior to this incident, which many have attributed to Burns’ turbulent relationships and an on-coming mid-life crisis, (...)
> 
> As this theory gained popularity, public opinion on the matter was split between the Theory of the Triumvirate, and the until then more commonly understood Duality Theory[1], which suggests that Night and Day are two facets of the same deity, who then fell in love with the blood that birthed humanity. From the sacrifices their human worshippers gifted the deity, the Blood Mage was born, which this theory holds to be synonymous with the Dawnbringer of later legends.
> 
> While this theory holds some merits, in other aspects (...)
> 
> One of the main pillars of the Duality Theory is the equation of the Blood Mage with the Dawnbringer. This is based on the fact that several Blood Mage cults were converted to the Dawnbringer in the late 300s. Archaeological evidence, however, paints a different picture. As historian Larry Matovina wrote in 937: “It is a curious fact, when one looks at the histories up to a century post Ascension, how little the stars, especially the moon, were associated with blood. Only when looking into rituals performed around blood sacrifice does the connection become obvious, and these were often kept secret within the cults.” (“The Sun, Stars and The Moon: A History Bathed in Blood“ by L. Matovina, published in Celestial Monthly, 937).
> 
> The conflation of the Blood Mage with the Dawnbringer due to the influence of constellations in rituals, which were deemed as part of the Blood Mage’s domain. This has been shown to be the first step that brought us the Duality Theory, which in many ways is the precursor to the Theory of the Triumvirate by separating the Dawnbringer from the aspects of Night and Day (...)
> 
> Part of the confusion can be traced back to a series of letters by Head Priest of the United Acolytes Gus Sorola dated ca. year 3 prior Ascension. In these letters he complains about the presence and behaviour of Hunters, an elite group of law enforcement generally associated with Night worship. This group was hosted by the Acolytes for several weeks that year and according to Sorola they broke hospitality in at least five counts of varying severity. In his letter Sorola appeals to the close brotherhood between their deities, stating 'as you are the head, we are your right hand'.
> 
> A similar phrase is used multiple times in that era, describing the relationship between the two deities by placing the Blood Mage as the Night God’s right hand. However, where proponents of the Duality Theory propose this as a sign that the Blood Mage was married to the deity of Day and Night, which Triumvirate theorists expand into the more common triad marriages, due to the modern symbolism of bleeding from the right hand as a sign of devotion (...)
> 
> As a result of this assumption, compounded by the conflation of the Blood Mage with the Dawn aspect, Weems argues that the Dawnbringer couldn’t be an aspect of the same deity as the Dark God[2], further citing the union of Sun and Night as a marriage and another argument in favour of the Triumvirate (...) worship of this union lasted until the late 100s prior Ascension, when all mention of it died a sudden death. This tipping point is often used to define the following time period as the Dark Age, known for its flowery language, high rise of Dark God worship, and allegories of the Sun’s death.
> 
> The metaphorical nature of the stories passed on from this time period is a major contributor to the confusion surrounding the Trinity of Day, Dawn, and Night. Some scholars even go so far as to suggest that the death of the sun and the following decades of darkness were describing an existing phenomenon and should be interpreted literally (...)
> 
> The Dark Age was a time of political turmoil. As early as the late 150s prior Ascension tensions between the respective worships of Day and Night became apparent, culminating in the execution of the head priestess of the Sun [3]. The Night worshippers arose as the victors of this internal struggle between the previously closely related sister-factions, rising to dominance as a global power. In their metaphorical descriptions of these events, the Dark God slayed the Solar Queen and stole the sunlight for the consequent century (...)
> 
> A point of contention is the changing association of the moon with the Night aspect to be instead associated with the Blood Mage. As Weems illustrates in “Trinitivism: A Nonsensical Interpretation of the Facts”, the moon started to be associated with blood magic during the Dark Age due to the Blood Moon being the only stellar imagery approved of by the Dark God worshippers. (...) amongst others, the mythologized version of events has the Dark God gifting the Blood Mage the moon out of gratitude for the Blood Mage helping the Dark God rise to the top of the pantheon.
> 
> Weems uses this myth to position the Blood Mage as the third part of a triad, with the moon as a symbolic wedding gift of sorts. However, once the Dawn aspect is divorced from the image of the Blood Mage, the objective truth becomes clear. The Dawnbringer emerged as a consequence of the reunion between the Day worship and Night worship in what we now celebrate as the Ascension. One of the reasons Duality and Triumvirate theorists mistake the Blood Mage for the Dawnbringer is that we associate childbirth with both blood and dawn, and the Dawn aspect was birthed as a symbol of the peace reached between the reunited Day and Night factions.
> 
> (...) if we read them as one singular deity with three facets: the aspect of Day/Sun, Night/Stars, and Dawn/Moon. In the words of Miles Luna, an expert on the history of the moon through the lense of divinity: “The changing association of the moon from Night to Dawn from 107 prior to 69 post Ascension has been subject to much speculation. The only object of celestial depiction during the Dark Age, the Acolytes of the Blood Mage were permitted an annual moon ritual by the ruling Night worshippers (...) thus creating the term ‘blood’ moon. According to this tradition (...) depicted in blood red rather than pale silver.” Luna continues on to describe the depictions of celestial bodies post Ascension, including the notable rise of moon imagery during sunlit day scenes.
> 
> Where the day is traditionally associated with the sun, and the night with the stars, the moon has now changed to be associated with both. (...) common misunderstanding of the Dawn aspect. Although the term ‘dawn’ suggests sunrise, the Dawnbringer is similarly connected to sunset as well. Dusk worship, albeit rarer, is a legitimate branch of Dawn worship[4].
> 
> (...)
> 
> The moon, and with it the aspect of Dawn, create the connective tissue between the Day and Night aspects of the Trinity. Born as a mixture of both, early Dawn worship had both followers of the Dark God and the Solar Queen, but also attracted many of the Blood Mage’s acolytes (...) the likely reason, as this unnamed acolyte abandoned the cult and through a series of events that have been highly romanticized since, ended up reuniting the hiding remnants of sun worship with the reigning Night faction. As such it is no wonder many acolytes converted to the Dawnbringer.

* * *

[1] Several people have voiced their confusion, assuming the Duality Theory arose as a hybrid between Triumvirate and Trinity Theory. This is historically inaccurate.

[2] “Dark God” was the common Dark Age name for the Night aspect, otherwise referred to as the God of Night and the God of Dreams and Inspiration.

[3] While the identity of this priestess is contested, many ascribe the role to renowned religious figure and poet Fiona Nova, after which the high festival of Sun worship, the Supernova, is named.

[4] There are three famous figures known for their public Dusk worship across history, generally referred to as the “Dusk Boys”.

* * *

If you read this, you might also be interested in:

“An Exercise in Cherry-Picking: A Response to K. Shawcross” by Sarah Weems

“Third Times the Charm: Common Themes in both Triumvirate and Trinity Theory” by Ashley Dillard

“Moonrise During Day and Night: Lunar Associations Through the Ages” by Miles Luna

  
  
  



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